Tennessee Department of Justice Attorney William Killian has recently raised eyebrows for suggesting that anti-Muslim messages online could be prosecuted under federal laws. Sara Yasin questions if his approach will help anyone

The comments in question were made after local politician Barry West shared a photo of a cowboy-hat clad man aiming the barrel of a gun at the camera, with the caption “how to Wink at a Muslim” last month. The controversial post led to an event held last week by the American Muslim Advisory Council in West’s constituency, where Killian and FBI special agent Kenneth Moore spoke about civil rights and hate speech. The meeting, however, was interrupted by a group of anti-Muslim hecklers — enraged by Killian’s previous comments, taking them as yet another sign of the ever expanding creep of “Sharia law” in the United States.

There is a brand of “Islamophobia” that seems to be trendy in the United States these days, that seems to move seamlessly between the right-wing blogosphere, and the rhetoric of Tea Party darlings like Michele Bachmann. But, I’m not sure how policing “hate speech” online would decrease the number of offline threats faced by Muslims.

This more prevalent movement has no doubt helped contribute to a more visible battle against Islam in the United States. According to a Gallup study on anti-Muslim sentiments in the US, there has been an increase in “Islamophobia” in the decade since 9/11. The poll showed that 48 per cent of Muslims, and 52 per cent of Arabs in the United States have experienced discrimination.

The FBI reported 157 hate crimes against Muslims in 2011, only a slight increase compared to the 50 per cent jump in attacks in 2010. It’s been unclear previously if these statistics include attacks against individuals “perceived” to be Muslim, so it’s good news that the FBI will start reporting hate crimes against Hindus, Sikhs, and Arabs. It might be more worthwhile to investigate how many of the recorded attacks also involve threats online, as anti-Islamic rhetoric online doesn’t always necessarily translate into a real-life threat.

Shutting down anti-Muslim voices online, it also misses the point. In times like these, we should be challenging these voices head on, rather than silencing them in the hope they’ll go away.